A PHD student who suffered from a mystery condition that felt like ‘living with the handbrake on’ has been diagnosed after 25 years… by her mother.

Amanda Ramsay had ‘countless’ blood and thyroid tests and even gave up her job after becoming increasingly exhausted, depressed and overweight.

The 45-year-old visited numerous GPs and consultants but no-one could work out what was wrong with her.

That was until her mother, Maureen, looked up the symptoms on the internet and found they matched those associated with obstructive sleep apnoea.

Miss Ramsay, from Bristol, said: ‘I’m really angry with the doctors – they left me with absolutely no hope and no treatment.’

The politics graduate began experiencing sleepiness while studying for her A-levels in the 1980s.

By her 30s, she was struggling to keep her eyes open while driving home from work.

‘I felt utterly wiped out,’ she said. ‘The older I got, the heavier I got because caffeine, carbs and sugar were getting me through the day.’

After a severe chest infection in 2008, GPs suggested it could be post-viral fatigue syndrome – so Miss Ramsay quit her job and tried a detox diet.

But it was only when her 70-year-old mother went online three years later that she considered the possibility of a sleep disorder – a diagnosis confirmed by a consultant in July 2011.

The condition, where the throat muscles relax until they block the airway, causes disturbed sleep and depletes the body of oxygen. It is also linked with increased risk of stroke, heart disease, obesity and diabetes.

Since her diagnosis, Miss Ramsay wears a machine to help her breathe when she goes to sleep. She added: ‘Doctors train for seven years and get paid a lot of money. My mum was so worried she went online and used Google.’